Synagogal Judaism or Synagogal and Sacerdotal Judaism was a branch of Judaism that emerged around the 2nd century BCE with the construction of the first synagogues in the Jewish diaspora and ancient Judea. Parallel to Rabbinic Judaism and Jewish Christianity, it developed after the destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem in 70 CE.[1]
Also known as "common Judaism" or "para-rabbinic Judaism", the synagogal movement encompassed the rites and traditions predominantly followed by the Judeans in the early centuries of the common era. Within this movement, the religious practices and culture common to the ancient Jewish diaspora were formed. Influenced by the Hellenistic culture and the subsequent Greco-Roman world, and also by Persian culture, it gave rise to a distinct art form in the 3rd century.[2] According to researchers, Jewish priests mostly stayed inside that movement after the destruction of the Second Temple.[3]
Between Rabbinic Judaism and Christianity, there existed another entity, which undoubtedly had more legitimacy due to its antiquity and the fact that it was based more on ethnicity than belief. This entity can be called Synagogal Judaism, which was caught between the identities of the Rabbinic and Christian movements that were forming between the 2nd and 4th centuries. The former gradually disappeared by assimilating into either the Rabbinic movement or the Christian movement, although its reality persisted in certain regions throughout the Middle Ages in both the West and the East.[1]
— Simon Claude Mimouni, Le judaïsme ancien du VIe siècle avant notre ère au IIIe siècle de notre ère: des prêtres aux rabbins
Distinct from Rabbinic Judaism and Jewish Christianity, synagogal Judaism carried a mysticism associated with the hekhalot literature ("literature of the Palaces") and the Targum. It is considered the ultimate source of the Kabbalah according to Moshe Idel.[4]
Synagogal Judaism was called a "triplet brother" of Rabbinic Judaism and Christianity.[5]
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